December 20, 2007

Thursday, December 20, 2007
5.2 miles at night. It snowed about 3 or 4 inches during the day, so the road was well coated. It was a very comfortable 25 degrees, with a bright, if somewhat occluded, gibbous moon. I went through about 100 tissues today, but otherwise had no symptoms other than haywired sinuses. And total mental and physical exhaustion. I’m so damnedly tired. But I know the time spent running would be my only time today with clear sinuses, so there was no real doubt about my making it out.

I was scheduled for 5.6 miles today, but planned on either 2.8 or 3.2, depending on how I felt, confident about feeling crappy. Go figure. I felt good. Running at night in winter is wonderful training. You’re forced into a nice efficient stride, staying balanced over your center of mass, with any overstriding putting you quickly on your ass when you hit that first patch of icy road. It was such a nice night, and I felt so easy and strong that it was an easy, early decision to run longer. Over the final quarter mile I found myself subconsciously picking up the pace. Today is day 40 of my training; it’s time to add another piece of the training puzzle. Form drills and strides with every run, even if only a short set. It felt good – the legs want to run fast. I wish them luck.